Articles Posted in International Highlights

In 1996, Conway (then known as McLane) submitted a complaint to the Spanish Competition, the Servicio de Defencia de la Competencia (“SDC”) authorities, alleging that the former public tobacco monopoly, Tabacalera (now known as Altadis) abused its dominant position by not allowing Conway to distribute Tabacalera tobacco brands. A 2002 SDC decision found that Tabacalera…

Two Spanish banks entered the US banking market in June. Spain's second-largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), purchased two Texas-based banks -Texas Regional Bancshares and State Regional Bancshares- supplementing a southern-California based bank that it had previously acquired. This deal will give BBVA access to the lucrative market for remittances from Latin American workers…

Reports surfaced on June 19 that the Italian banking sector may be ripe for consolidation. This speculation began to emerge after Governor Mario Draghi of the Bank of Italy had signaled his intention to open up the Italian banking market to merger activity once the bank's merger veto had been transferred to Italian antitrust authorities.…

On June 14, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) had asked the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to revise its criteria in approving corporate mergers to encourage firms to reorganize and boost their competitiveness. Under current rules, the FTC allows mergers to proceed if the domestic market…

On June 8, it was reported that the Chinese State Council had approved draft legislation of the so-called Antimonopoly Law. This legislation aims to provide a free and fair competitive environment to all enterprises. The new law, which is expected to be passed in March 2007, contains articles regulating monopoly agreements, abuse of dominant market…

On June 2, Euronext and the New York Stock Exchange announced a merger that would create the world's largest stock exchange, and the first cross-Atlantic bourse. At the same time, Deutche B

On June 2, the European Commission approved a

On May 23, the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) rejected an objection lodged by Microsoft in March over a ruling that the company should unbundle its media player and messaging service from Windows software, echoing a similar decision made by the European Commission in 2004 that it unbundled its media player and messaging program…

On May 22, it was announced that the government of New Zealand was reviewing the Commerce Act, which encompasses its antitrust laws that cover mergers and acquisitions in order to ensure that New Zealand companies would be able to compete globally. Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel reportedly said that the government may consider granting increased powers…

On May 16 and May 17, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (FTC) raided approximately 20 contractors over bid-rigging allegations in projects ordered by the Japanese Defense Facilities Administration Agency as well as engineering and construction works at a U.S. military facility in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture in conspiracy with officials of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency.…